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I have said before that Eric Holder is a bad choice for Attorney General and today's story in the New York Times only confirms my worries.

The Times has actually been excellent in covering the degree to which the Rich pardon contravened the standing protocols for the dispensation of pardons and Holder's involvement in getting Rich a pardon. Contrary to what Holder and his supporters would have us believe, Holder was much more involved in the pardon decision than he has let on in the past and the Times has reported this issue quite accurately, both with today's story on Holder's involvement in the pardon decision and with George Lardner's editorial on the issue.

I certainly hope that Lardner is asked to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee to give his opinion on whether Holder is qualified to be Attorney General, given his involvement in the Marc Rich pardon. In his testimony, Lardner can point out the following:

1. Contrary to past statements, Holder was a lot more involved in the decision to pardon than he claimed to be, stating as early as 1999 that when it came to the charges against Marc Rich, "'the equities' were on Mr. Rich's side" and blaming U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White for refusing to have a meeting on the issue.

2. Holder advised Jack Quinn, the former White House Counsel for the Clinton Administration and Rich's lawyer, to "go straight to" the White House for a pardon request, stating that "the timing is good."

3. The rules concerning pardon petitions state that the opinions of the U.S. Attorneys on the specific case "are given considerable weight" because of the "valuable insights" that they have. And yet, Mary Jo White was never consulted concerning the pardon of Marc Rich.

4. When the pardon was signed, Holder contacted Quinn to tell him that Quinn had done "a very good job" on the pardon.

Is this the kind of behavior we expect from our Attorney General? Is this Change We Can Believe In? I recognize that Holder's admirers claim that this was but one blemish on an otherwise brilliant career, but it's a pretty big blemish. Eric Holder may be a very good lawyer, but he doesn't have to be Attorney General and with his involvement in the Rich pardon, he shouldn't be.

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